


A Long Overdue Reunion

by starpilotsix



Category: Sliders (TV)
Genre: Actually Written In 1996, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Post-Canon, Reunions, Reunited and It Feels So Good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 14:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30006222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starpilotsix/pseuds/starpilotsix
Summary: They all knew the rules... if you miss your slide window, you have to wait 29.7 years for another window to open up. Well, they missed their slide, and almost thirty years later, the surviving members of the group reunite to decide if they're going to move on.
Relationships: Quinn Mallory/Wade Welles
Kudos: 1





	A Long Overdue Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> I was looking through my old hard drive to find the oldest files I had preserved across computers. In the process I ran across some old fanfics I wrote (which were still newer than the oldest files by several years), and, doing a quick search found that some or all of them didn't seem to exist anymore on the Internet, so I figured I'd upload some, for archival purposes so that if I ever lose my streak of file recovery it exists somewhere for me to potentially find in the distant future, or, perhaps, for others to enjoy.
> 
> Don't expect much quality from these, they were some of my first writing.
> 
> I have not edited these. Depending on the length of the story, I may not have even read the whole thing again before posting. I don't think there's anything in them that would make me cringe now (I mean, aside from the writing itself), but given they were written something like 25 years ago before I write this note, it's possible there's insensitive terms or problematical attitudes that we've hopefully moved past. Please forgive me in advance.

Quinn Mallory grasped the handle of the knocker and rapped twice. The answer came with a creaking open door, and the face of a stiff looking butler.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. Quinn and Wade Mallory, we're here to see Rembrandt Brown."

"Just a moment, I'll check."

The door closed rudely on the two of them, and they waited. Quinn put an arm around his wife Wade, holding her close to him. A few minutes  
later the door opened again.

"The master will see you. Walk this way."

They followed the butler through the mansion foyer, and into a small sitting room. A large armchair, it's back to them, faced the fire.

The man seated within began to stand, although it looked as though it pained him. Rembrandt Brown turned to face his visitors. Though younger than him, they were beginning to show signs of age; wrinkles, some grey hairs on Quinn.

He must be what, fifty-two now? Fifty three?, Rembrandt thought to himself. He couldn't remember. It didn't matter that much anymore  
anyway. He dismissed his butler.

"Hey Rembrandt," Wade said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alive," he said with a slight smile, though it looked forced.

"All of us are here, then," Quinn said. "All of us left, anyway."

"I know," said Rembrandt, "It's a shame about Max. Just six more months, and he could have been off this world."

Quinn nodded. The last time they had all been together was at Maximillian Arturo's funeral. "If the doctors here weren't so far back, he might have made it. He hated it here."

"At least he made his mark," Wade pointed out. "He's the greatest scientific genius in this world's history. Without him, they'd still be  
using candlelight and woodburning stoves."

"The technology he was able to give them isn't that much of an improvement, especially compared to our Earth when we left. If their Dark Ages had ended sooner, they'd have had it already," Rembrandt added.

"We're missing the point here, guys," Quinn reminded them.

Rembrandt nodded. "So the window opens in a week?"

"Yes. We all agreed, that when it was time, we'd get together and decide if we were going to go on," Quinn said, looking to Wade.

"I guess you guys have already decided?" Rembrandt said.

Wade nodded. "We want to see home again."

"What about your son?"

"He wants to come along. He's been waiting for this day since we explained things to him," Quinn explained. "What about you, Cryin' Man.  
Are you coming along?"

Rembrandt paused for a while, thinking. "I'm feeling a little old to be popping through universes. There's no way we'll know home if we ever  
found it."

"That's not exactly true, Rembrandt." Wade said. Rembrandt looked at her. "Quinn discovered how to target home, when the window arrives."

Rembrandt stared at Quinn, now.

"It was only about a month ago that I discovered it, and up until yesterday I've been making sure I was right. I think I'll be able to finally bring us home. What do you say, Rembrandt? One last slide, for old times sake? At the very least, maybe we'll be able to find a nice world, and we can have modern conveniences again."

"I don't know... I've made a name for myself here..."

"If you need more time to decide, we can come back," Quinn offered.

Rembrandt shook his head, "No, I've made up my mind. I'm coming along."

"Okay. Then during the week, you should try to convert all your assets to precious metals and gems. The money's almost definately not going to be the same back home."

Rembrandt nodded. They talked for a little while longer, about old times and some of the adventures they had. As the afternoon stretched into night, they said goodbye and returned home.

\-----

One week later, they met again, in the daytime, outside the house that used to belong to Rembrandt Brown. With no other family or close friends on this world, he decided he'd leave it to his butler. The man had put up with him all those years, after all. Rembrandt even told him the truth about where he came from, two or three years previous. He didn't believe him, of course, but he didn't sell the story to a tabloid, either. That meant a lot to Rembrandt. Now was going to be his chance to prove his story was true, at any rate.

Rembrandt patted Quinn's son, Michael (after Quinn's father), on the back, surprising him. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Uncle Rembrandt."

He was only an honorary uncle, of course. In fact, he was almost the kid's godfather, but Arturo was given that title. Rembrandt turned  
to Quinn and remarked, "You know, he's the spitting image of what you looked like when I met you."

Quinn smiled, looking down at the timer, an overlarge, improvised battery the only thing preventing it from fitting perfectly in his hand. "It's almost time."

Rembrandt smiled and turned back to his old house. He put his hands up to his mouth and called, "Hey, Jeeves!" He always called his butler Jeeves. It wasn't his real name, of course, that was Brent Hale, and he never understood quite why Rembrandt delighted in calling him Jeeves.   
'Jeeves' appeared at the front door. "Yes, sir?"

"I want you to come out here and see me off," Rembrandt said. Jeeves walked down the pathway to the gates. "You never believed me  
when I told you where I came from. But just you watch. I'll show you I didn't lose my marbles," he continued with a grin.

As though on cue, Quinn activated the timer. That swirling blue vortex they had not seen in years formed as though they slid only yesterday.

Michael Mallory stared wide-mouthed at it, a grin slowly forming. He had heard of what it looked like, even saw some pictures Wade painted of it in her spare time. But to see it in reality was something else entirely. "We... we just step in?" he asked.

Wade nodded. "That's it. See you on the other side."

Michael nodded, and leaped through without hesitation, a daring spirit that reminded Wade so much of his father. She turned and gave Quinn a kiss, before jumping through herself.

Quinn turned to Rembrandt, who was enjoying the stunned look on his butler's face. "Rembrandt!"

Rembrandt turned to face him, "Okay, I'm ready."

"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. This is long overdue."

Rembrandt put a hand on his shoulder, "Forget about it, Quinn. I forgave you long ago. Now let's Slide before we miss the window."

Quinn smiled. They entered the vortex, Quinn first, followed only seconds later by Rembrandt. For a moment, as he jumped, Rembrandt  
almost expected to accidentally kick the Professor while in the vortex.

The vortex closed behind them, one final time. On a completely different world, another opened. Finally, they slid onto home soil.

The End


End file.
